REPORT ON A TRIP TO HUNGARY

Date:       29 September 1996
By:         Philip Richards
CompuServe: 101471,731

Introduction

For this report I have written the main part in the usual "diary" format for each day and at the end have added on further notes regarding such things as descriptions of motive power as well as practical advice that perhaps the first time visitor to Hungary may find useful. For the railway enthusiast Hungary has a lot to offer but is not one of the more visited countries in Europe despite that the Communist regime is a thing of the past it still has a long way to catch up with some of its Western neighbours. Nonetheless after 10 years or so of repeat visits to countries like France, Germany etc. a few years ago I was looking for something a little different. The Berlin Wall had come down and the awkward, off putting restrictions imposed by the authorities almost overnight disappeared thus opening up a huge expanse of railway to explore. Unfortunately by then steam had all but disappeared with the exception of the narrow gauge in the former East Germany and one or two bits in Poland, but with various friends I set about making exploratory visits.

This was in fact my third visit to Hungary, the first two being in 1993 and 1994, things on the whole have changed very little. A little more of the system has been electrified, a cut back in the amount of locomotive and rolling stock numbers, mainly due to a drop in freight traffic. However the passenger train scene has altered very little. Some while ago British magazines and Society newsletters started to publish a huge list of threatened line closures in Hungary so I made it first priority to pay another visit to try and cover them. Whether or not they will all close or not remains to be seen, but my objective was to visit and cover as much as I could of the area to the east of Budapest, in particular branch and secondary lines.

Lastly, if your geographic knowledge of Hungary is not particularly good, you may find it useful to have a rail map covering Hungary with you when reading through this report. Also as this report has been written using plain ASCII text then the full range of the various accents used in the Hungarian language (primarily place names) have had to be omitted.

Friday 13 September 1996

Having made the journey all the way from the UK by rail before and entered or left Hungary by several railway frontiers I decided to make this trip straight forward by flying straight to Budapest and staying in just within Hungary this time. I left my home station in Maidstone in Kent (approximately 40 miles/65 Kms from London) just after 0600 so as to allow plenty of time to get out to Heathrow Airport in London. Naturally I would have preferred Gatwick much nearer to home and a lot easier to access by rail but the airlines seem to think different. Upon checking in at Heathrow I couldn't help but notice the inevitable notice inviting passengers to accept cash payments to travel on later flights as part of their policy of over booking flights. Still I was not having anything of that! The 1000 flight was delayed taking off due to one of the most common problems, nicely put over by the cabin purser "due to a slight discrepancy in numbers in those that have checked in and who are on board!" A minute or two later the couple holding us up appeared looking somewhat embarrassed by the problem they had caused. Nonetheless we touched down in Budapest more or less on time and after a fairly speedy passport control and baggage reclaim I then had the task of getting in to the city centre.

With Budapest Ferihegy Airport lying right beside the main line towards Debrecen and Szeged a case of a missed opportunity with now rail link to reach the city or the other way. Public transport to the city remains pretty dismal, it was a choice of a bus to Kobyana-Kispest at the end of one of the Budapest Metro lines (line 3) and with no ticket machines around (tickets for Budapest public transport have to be bought before boarding) it makes the proposition somewhat unattractive. Needless to say other than private taxis the most suitable way of getting into the city was to use the privately run Airport Minibus service. Basically you pay a fixed fee of 1000 Forints (see end of report for currency information) desk in the airport terminal, specify your destination (any address or location in Budapest) and are called once the minibus is ready. Nevertheless with traffic congestion it was a good 45 minute run to my nominated set down point, Moszkva ter on the eastern side of the River Danube (Duna) or Buda (Pest being the opposite side, hence the name). Moskva ter is a lively bus/metro/tram interchange in a typically scruffy Eastern Europe environment. Public transport in Budapest is well used and very cheap (50 Forints per single journey). From Moszkva ter I then walked up the road a short distance to the bottom end terminus of the Fogaskereku Vasut or Cogwheel railway owned by the Budapest Public Transport Authority (Budapesti Kozlekedesi Reszvenytarsasag or BKV). The terminus (Varosmajor) is also the site of the small maintenance depot where the five 2 car electric sets are maintained. Two sets are normally used to maintain the 20 minute frequency for the 16 minute climb to the summit at Szechenyi-hegy.

From there it was a 200 metre or so walk to the next stretch of line known nowadays as the Gyermekvasut or Children's Railway. Still owned by Hungarian State Railways - Magyar Allamvasutak Rt. (MAV) this unique 760mm gauge line was formally known as the Pioneers Railway. Dating back to the days of Communism, the railway was operated as a training school for children who wanted to make a career in railway operations under supervision of adults. As a result the children would perform virtually all tasks the main exceptions being driving the locomotives and in the maintenance depot. The 11 Km line has survived purely as a tourist attraction but operates all year round except on Mondays when the line is closed. I just missed the 1600 departure so after a drink in one of the many bars near by I wandered back to the station to purchase my single ticket for a mere 60 Forints in good time for the last train of the day at 1700. Strictly speaking I was entitled to half rate but I just didn't have the nerve or cheek to ask for it! Passenger loadings were very light and trains were being worked by the usual Class Mk45 loco and just one coach. After the usual photographs we pulled off with little of the pomp and ceremony that I was expecting. Having seen the railway being featured way back in the early 1980s in the BBC's "Great Railway Journeys of The World" TV series, I was expecting the obligatory saluting of the train off by a 14 year old Red Cap or something! Alas not, being the last train of the day the (adult) Red Cap (minus a his Red Cap) simply locked up the station at Szechenyi-hegy and boarded the train which had two, much younger conductors. The 45 minute ride up through the Budapest hills was quite pleasant, the line has a cross over loop at virtually every station in order to accommodate a much more frequent service during the busy periods. On reaching the upper end terminus at Huvosvolgy I was only one of two passengers. The train continued further on into the depot that serves the line, approximately 300 metres further on. I walked up the track into the depot but was not met with much enthusiastic response from the shed master who was busily locking up the sheds for the day and obviously keen to get home! I noted a total of 9 Mk45 locomotives in the depot, several of them having been transferred from one of the other 760mm gauge systems, notably the stone quarry at Szob (near the border of Slovakia on the main line from Budapest to Bratislava) which is being reduced in operation. Not wishing to intrude I left the depot and made my way back into central Budapest first of all via tram route 56 to Moszkva ter then the Metro to check into my hotel for the next two nights.

Saturday 14 September 1996

A circular trip today to cover the lines around Balassagyarmat which lies to the north east of Budapest close to the Slovakian border. After breakfast I made my way from my hotel to one of the three Budapest main termini, Nyugati (= West) slightly confusing since it lies towards the north east of the city centre! My first train of the day was 32362, 0805 to Romhany which operates only at weekends from Budapest, normally a change of train at Vac for is required. The train was well loaded being formed of a 5 car Bzmot railcar set. Like them or not, these 4 wheeled railcars built by Studenka in the former Czechoslovakia form a bulk of the stock used on secondary lines throughout Hungary. Basic seating and somewhat inflexible since the intermediate trailers are not equipped with driving equipment (and in fact are classified as locomotive hauled stock). A 5 car set would normally operate as a power car + 3 trailers + power car, but 2 or 3 car formations would be powered by one power car and thus the need to perform run round duties at the end of each journey. A reasonably fast run out of Budapest Nyugati under the wires until the branch veered off just past Vac to head through some quite pleasant countryside. The actual branch to from Diosjeno to Romhany is operated as a one train in section and like so many other lines the track was in an appalling condition. Towards the end of the line loadings began to drop off. The 5 car set was split at Romhany, with (very unusually) one power car and 2 trailers working back to Diosjeno as empty coaching stock within about 10 minutes of arrival. After just over an hour I took the next departure back to Diosjeno which was formed of just one single car, the other two trailers being left behind. At Diosjeno it was the all familiar situations of "all trains meeting together", quite often at a junction station two trains are timetabled to cross over on the "main" line with the branch line train acting a  connection into and then off of both so a hive of activity for 10 or 15 minutes once every two or so hours! I then continued on to Balassagyarmat train being worked by a single Bzmot power car and 2 trailers which then has to run round at the somewhat isolated station of Dregelypalank. Presumably at one stage the line continued on further westwards. Balassagyarmat is the main town and railway centre of the area and boasts a small depot at the eastern end of the station on both sides of the line responsible for maintaining quite a large fleet of Bzmot units as well as Class M43 and M47 locomotives used on local freight workings. One steam loco was still dumped right over the back of the depot 4-8-0 No. 424.22 may well still be used in the winter months as a stationary boiler for the depot buildings, but steam now is officially "dead" in Hungary except for special workings. After some lunch in the rather basic station buffet I then covered the 41 Km branch to Ipolytarnoc, again not surprisingly in a single car Bzmot with a more modest 24 minute wait at the end of the line. The MAV (and ZSR) timetable still show (a blank) timetables for two lines into Slovakia in the area. One being a continuation of the line to Kalonda, the other being a branch coming off at Nogradszakal (13 Kms before Ipolytarnoc) to terminate at Velky Krtis again in Slovakia. Both appear now to be closed, though the former may still be open for freight traffic. So when the lines were open the only means of reaching Velky Krtis would have been to have gone via Hungary. I then retraced my route back to Balassagyarmat to make my way back to Budapest via the other route via Aszod. Once again Bzmot railcar to the junction station on the main Budapest to Miskolc line where after a 20 minute late arrival (reason unknown, or should I say wasn't able to understand why!) I took the 1921 departure back into Budapest, this into Keleti (East) station, the train being formed of one of the ubiquitous electric Class V43 (V43 1300) and push pull sets which work many of the local services out of Budapest. Arriving into Budapest's main
international station, examples of of other railways multi voltage locomotives workings were seen - OBB (Austrian) Class 1014 and ZSR (Slovakian) Class 350.

Sunday 15 September 1996

After my second night in Budapest it was time to move on. For the next 5 nights I was to stay in Debrecen. Today was making a somewhat devious route taking in various cross country secondary lines. After checking out of the hotel I made my way via the Metro to Keleti station again to take the 0835 all stations to Hatvan worked by V43 1299 and push pull set. Hatvan is something of a windswept station, far too big and one of the few stations in Hungary where annoying metal fencing has been erected between the tracks, thus spoiling any chance of photography from the opposite platform. I then headed off northwards towards the Slovak border diesel hauled behind M41 2122 - at last a decent train on a non electrified line! Our booked cross over with train 395 "Urpin" from Zillna (in Slovakia) to Budapest should have been at Jobbagyi but it turned out it was running 40 minutes late so and the trains were crossed over at Tar immaculately planned so that I managed to get a decent shot of the on coming ZSR no. 750.110 and its rake of spotless ZSR coaches. I left the train at the junction station of Kistereyne to head back south via an extremely slow run (55 Kms in 147 mins!) to Kal-Kapolna, hardly surprising worked by a Bzmot but despite the slow speed the service was well used by the locals. I had 90 or so minutes to kill at Kal-Kapolna, despite a fair size station, the village is some walk away and any attempts at getting something to eat were soon just a thought rather than reality! From Kal-Kapolna I headed on further south to Kisujszallas in a 4 car Bzmot set with a power car either end which had to first reverse out of the station, cross over before heading back through the station and branch off to the right! Speeds on this line were considerably higher and towards the end of the journey the train became full and standing with the usual Sunday afternoon traffic. With just 3 minutes to make the main line connection at Kisujszallas and 5 minutes any fears were soon dispelled, connections are almost always held, though the timetable does indicate certain cases where they don't. The run from Kisujszallas was worked by V63 021 which having split and dropped a portion at Puspokladany for Oradea in Romania continued on. The train was jammed packed, I had a struggle to work my way down the corridors with a rucksack on my back but I eventually found refuge in the buffet car where I bought some long awaited food before arriving at Debrecen about 10 minutes late. Since my hotel I had pre-booked in Debrecen was only 10 minutes walk from the station I decided to check in and off load the rucksack in my hotel room before returning back to the station for the last run of day. As I have no plans at present to visit Romania I decided to cover one or two of the lines up as far as the border where possible so a evening out and back trip to the border station at Nyirebrany was easily fitted in with M41 2166 in charge for the 40 minute or so run each way.

Monday 16 September 1996

I could have had a bit more of a lie in or more time in the dining room of the hotel having breakfast and made a later train this morning from Debrecen at 0749 as far as Puspokladany. But coming all the way from Moskva (Moscow) I played safe and opted to take an earlier local service at 0724 (worked by V43 1106). As it turned out I made the right decision, the sleeper train from Moskva to Budapest which has some seated carriages attached for Hungarian domestic travellers never appeared and my connecting branch train didn't wait!! So after a coffee in the station buffet I set about finishing off a set of lines centred around Veszto all Bzmot worked. In effect I made an out and back run to end up at the branch from Veszto to Korosnagyharsany changing at Szeghalom both ways. The timetable also indicated a change at Veszto but in effect it was a continuation of the same power car which works around from Gyoma (on the main Budapest - Szolnok - Curtici line). The two trailers however were detached at Veszto, the reason becoming apparent one stop 3 Kms before the end of the branch at a station called Korosszalkal. Once the Red Cap and driver both signed and each kept a copy of the ticket used for permission to gain entry into the next section we headed off to the end of the line to terminate, very unusually at a station with no loop or previous evidence of. The line quite clearly continued at one stage (probably to Biharkeresztes)  but nonetheless the sight of a bright orange single car railcar at what could barely be described a station felt I have really got to the end of nowhere! And the village of Korosnagyharsany could hardly be described as the most thriving place, the road leading up to the station was just a mud track which lead to another mud track road and so on. The actual "main" road was in fact Tarmac covered with horse and cart being the leading form of transport! The sight of water pumps outside several houses probably indicated that some houses were still not connected up to the mains! I found the main centre of activity for the village, a very scruffy looking bar and after a quick drink returned back to the "station" for the 1150 back to Veszto. After a lunch in Szeghalom and another Bzmot run to Puspokladany I then took V63 033 on the 1532 back to Debrecen to complete two more branches before the end of the day. The two branches to Letavertes and Nagykereki are both worked by the unique MDmot sets. These could easily cause an argument - are they a railcar sets or loco plus push pull set? In effect they operate as a diesel powered luggage van with a cab at each end which can be driven on its own ie like a loco. The MD power car then works with 4 loco hauled carriages with one being a driving trailer. The driving trailers are additionally equipped with a small motor to provide train heating. Normally MDmot sets work as a power car + 4, but services out of Debrecen bound for these two destinations are formed of two sets as far as the junction station of Sarand where the two branches diverge. But on the return from the two branches they work independently back to Debrecen and join up in one of the platforms at Debrecen to work the next service back. Covering the lines looked, on paper quite straight forward, provided you joined the correct portion going out (the sets were not plated up!) all should be fine. However having taken the 1639 from Debrecen on arrival at Nagykereki I noted a second set waiting to work back out 3 minutes later! Having done dozens, if not hundreds of dead end branches before all over Continental Europe you do get a little used to the idea that (most) of the time what works down will work the next train back. Not so here! So after a very quick photo of the two MDmot sets sitting side by side I returned back to Debrecen to then cover the Letavertes branch which by then was dark.

Tuesday 17 September 1996

Out of all the days of my trip, today was the most memorable as I was to spend a best part of the day covering the 760mm gauge system from Nyiregyhaza. An early start from Debrecen (0703) meant me having to forgo the hotel breakfast. Despite the station restaurant at Debrecen being open for business from 0600, I went in, sat down looked through a menu and nobody seemed to appear so I walked back out after 10 minutes as my train departure was imminent. I quickly purchased and had a quick breakfast from one of the kiosks before heading for the 0703 to Nyiregyhaza today worked by V43 1088. I was a little late in joining and ended up having to stand for the 46 minute journey to Nyiregyhaza. The narrow gauge line is located just outside the main station building and after a little confusion as what portion of the 4 coach train goes where I joined the 0811 departure with Mk48 2012 in front and after a delay of about 15 minutes or so, presumably awaiting a late running connection, though it wasn't possible to see the main station arrivals or any announcements made for that matter! After the late start the train began to weave its way first through the built up suburbs of Nyiregyhaza before serving the small out lying villages along the line. Traffic levels were quite encouraging, many of the lines users just using the trains to go one or two stops. However for most of the way, the railway passes along side a road and at several times buses (seen going to the same destinations as the train) were overtaking the train! The line diverges at Herminatanya where the place bursts into a hive of activity. Two trains are normally timetabled to cross there to allow the loco change to take place. The two portions from Dombrad and Balsa will arrive first and join up before with the train from Nyiregyhaza arriving second. Depending on the arrangements the loco off the Dombrad portion is detached and after a bizarre shunting and splitting arrangement is attached on to the Dombrad portion once the 4 coach train has been split. In this case Mk48 2024 took over the Dombrad portion where I continued on to arriving around 10 minutes late, so no time had been made up. The terminus at Dombrad is immaculately kept and a small museum has been made with Mk48 2020 being preserved there as a static exhibit. The loco simply runs round the train though there is a fully operational triangle to turn a loco around if needs be as well as a small shed to stable the loco there overnight. I then returned back to Herminatanya expecting a repeat performance of loco changing but it appears that in order to allow the loco working the Dombrad branch to return back to Nyiregyhaza the trains that meet at Herminatanya around mid-day are double headed to and from Nyiregyhaza. Mk48 2025 worked forward from Herminatanya for my next run to the end of the other branch to Balsai-Tisza part. I knew from reading previous reports that on arrival at the penultimate station on the branch, Balsa, the loco run round is performed there since there is no run round loop at the terminus itself. Unusually instead of just running around in the station itself (which the track layout would have allowed) the run round was carried out on a triangle just beyond the station with the train being drawn forward onto one side, then the loco doing a 3 point turn, attaching to the other end and pulling back into Balsa station. According to the timetable the train should have left at 1313 to reverse back down the branch to the terminus along side the river Tisza. But alas not! Upon enquiring with my MAV timetable in hand I queried why we were not going to leave. In very broken English one of the two conductors replied, "Only in Summer" despite being advertised in the timetable as continuing on, presumably there is no demand for the train to go any further and head office in Budapest is along way away, so in all good tradition the railway is worked under local arrangement! I took a walk into the village to buy provisions for some lunch before returning back to Nyiregyhaza behind Mk48 2025 finally
arriving at 1635. 8.5 hours to cover 128 Kms of line! I finished off the rest of the day by returning back to Debrecen by a series of Bzmot worked services. Firstly to Nagykallo a 20 minute run from Nyiregyhaza where I made a quick change on to a very lightly loaded service worked by a single Bzmot car as far as Nyiredony. The run was slow and only has 3 trains each way per day. With less than half a dozen on board, that is a sure closure candidate. I had nearly two and a half hours to wait in Nyiredony for the last train of the day to Debrecen so after a bit of a walk into the town centre I managed to track down a rather nice restaurant for a meal. The last train of the day to complete a hat trick was Bzmot worked, this time power car + 3 trailers + power car formation.

Wednesday 18 September 1996

Today's travels were to take me to Mateszalka and the various lines in the area. I started off the day with the same train a yesterday, the 0703 to Nyiregyhaza today worked by V63 032 and then took a 5 car Bzmot set tracing part of my route yesterday as far as Nagykallo then over the line to Nyirebator where it joins up with the main line from Debrecen to Mateszalka which I had previously covered in 1993 in its entirety (loco hauled!) I reached the large junction station of Mateszalka which seems to go through various bursts of activity throughout the day then goes very quiet. The first of three lines to the east of Mateszalka was covered as far as Tiborszallas, the line actually continuing on via the border to Agerdomajor to Carei in Romania. With only two services a day via this rather obscure line into Romania, I was intrigued with what might work the service, alas nothing more than a Bzmot! The service I actually took was a Carei bound service formed of two power cars with one trailer in between. On arrival at Tiborszallas the leading power car is detached for the rest of the journey to Carei with the other power car and trailer returning to Mateszalka after a 23 minute layover. On arrival back at Mateszalka it was time for lunch so I ventured in to a place just across from the station. Having chosen the most expensive thing off the menu (a mere 180 Forints!) and with others sitting near by eating some rather tasty looking meals, I end up with Tripe Casserole! After lunch I made my way back for the 1345 to Zajta, the line does in fact (on Fridays & Sundays) enjoy the privilege of a couple of loco hauled trains to and from Budapest, though I question the need why for when some of the stations en-route serve barely half a dozen houses! The village of Zajta at the end of the line again could best be described as well behind the times. To fit in the last of the three lines I retraced my route back as far as a small halt called Kocsord, although I could have alighted one stop before hand at the junction station of Kocsord also, at that point I was confined to the train's WC, the Tripe Casserole I am sure was having something to do with it! The last branch was to Csenger which completed all the lines radiating out of Mateszalka where I returned back. Having already covered the line previously from Mateszalka to Zahony (on the Ukrainian border) and still needing the line from Vasarosnameny (21 Kms along this line towards Zahony) and Nyiregyhaza, the best way I could take that line into my plans was to take a taxi from Mateszalka to Vasarosnameny. The trains on these two lines do not seem to connect up very well either. I had 45 minutes to make the 1945 from Vasarosnameny, the taxi took just 22 minutes to take the 22 Kms for the fare of just over 1800 Forints which I didn't feel was too expensive. Having then returned from Vasarosnameny to Mateszalka I successfully had made a clean sweep on all the lines on the area, with perhaps the exception of the line beyond Tiborszallas to the Romanian border. With over 90 minutes to kill in Nyiregyhaza before the last train of the day back to Debrecen at 2248, I went in search of a meal in the town centre, some considerable distance away. V43 1088 took charge of a nice and empty service back to Debrecen to arrive there at 2331.

Thursday 19 September 1996

Last full day out out of Debrecen, today's journey would cover the cross country lines to the north and west of Debrecen. After two days of missing out on the hotel breakfast I had just enough time to take some this morning before dashing for 0725 from Debrecen to Tiszalok. With countless journeys in Bzmots over the last few days it was a pleasant surprise to be pulled by a diesel loco (M41 2174). With the heating being flat out I simply had to move to an empty half of the carriage and have all the windows down. I just don't see how all the locals can sit wrapped up in coats in boiling hot trains! The train connected at Tiszalok into a Nyiregyhaza bound Bzmot which I took all the way since there was a layover of over an hour. On arrival I made my way to the narrow gauge depot to have a look around for any Mk48s that were either withdrawn (Mk48 2025 was noted in a rather unused condition) or locos under repair plus a chance for some photography. Absolutely no one batted an eye lid as I wandered around and seeing as the stock for the 1118 from Nyiregyhaza was all prepared and ready to work empty stock to the station (headed by two locos Mk48 2012+2028 - see Tuesday's report) I jumped on board for the ride back to the station! I think I can safely say I made up for missing out on the end of the line at Balsa the other day! I left Nyiregyhaza to retrace my route via Tiszalok and on to Ohat-Pusztakocs, another long run in a Bzmot, sitting (as booked) at a station called Polgar for best part of 30 minutes to let a train coming the other way. Ohat-Pusztakocs is literally a junction in the middle of nowhere so with over an hour to wait, it was a case of, oh well wait..... My next move was for a short run of 9 minutes to the next junction station on the line between Debrecen and Fuzeasbony called Tiszafured (Tisza being the name of the main river in the area). In charge was MDmot power car 3038 and its standard rake of 4 coaches which made a quick connection into the next move at Tiszafured to Karcag, again formed of a Bzmot and 2 trailers. The timetabled connection at Karcag was just one minute, nevertheless safely made as the two trains pulled in simultaneously. The train was headed by V63 021 for the next 12 minutes, having been on the same train on Sunday this time I had to be in the rear portion since the train split at Puspokladany for Debrecen and Oradea. My intentions had hoped to go all the way to the last station on this line at Biharkeresztes where I had 8 minutes to get my planned train back. There was a slight delay in splitting the train at Puspokladany and attaching M41 2170 on the Oradea portion, the train left 5 minutes down. Losing a couple more minutes, despite in theory the train at Biharkeresztes would not leave until the other had arrived I decided to play safe not wishing to cause any suspicion with any Police that may be lurking around being a border station. So I opted to alight at the station before, Mezopetered where I awaited for the train which needless to say ran arrived around 8 minutes late, so perhaps after all I could have made it! M41 2158 was in charge of the train which originated from Tirgu Mures in Romania and was formed of CFR rolling stock my first sampling of such! On arrival at Puspokladany I returned to Debrecen behind V63 031 to end the days travels.

Friday 20 September 1996

Today I was to move on, after 5 nights in Debrecen I headed for Eger my last night in a hotel in Hungary, but not my last night in Hungary. Once again I took the 0703 from Debrecen, this morning hauled by V43 1265 all the way to Szerencs where the train terminated. From Szerencs I was to make a detour via Hidnasameti on the Slovak border out and back via different route. I started off with a Bzmot run over the secondary line which climbs up through some pleasant countryside. At Hidnasemeti after a 30 minute or so delay waiting for a portion of the train to arrive from Kosice in Slovakia and then be shunted onto the rest of the train we left for Miskolc behind M41 2172. Miskolc's main station, Tiszai pu., was a hive of activity over the lunchtime period, in the two hours I was there everything left loco hauled, with services to the various non-electrified lines behind mainly behind M41s, still better than Bzmots I have had all week. After a bite to eat in the station restaurant (one of the few surviving examples in Hungary which serves meals) I carried on to cover two more dead end branches. Fully expecting the line to Mezocsat to be formed of a Bzmot, a clean, bright orange M47 on a load three cheered me up for an enjoyable run to the end of the line where there was a layover of just under an hour. On the return I took the train back to the junction station of Nyekladhaza on the Miskolc to Budapest main line for another wait of an hour or so so as to complete the other branch to Tiszapalkonya-Eromu. The branch is electrified despite only having 7 services per day, some of which terminate at the station before, Tiszaujvaros = Tisza New Town and formerly Leninvaros! I could soon see why this line has been wired, the whole area around Tiszaujvaros is full of chemical processing plants and the like generating a large volume of freight traffic. The branch was operated by V43 1368 and a 2 coach push pull set with a brief 7 minute turn around at the end of the line. Returning back to Nyekladhaza the train neatly connected into my last run of the day along the main line as far Fuzesabony where V43 1028 in charge of the train ran round the stock and promptly sat and waited for the delayed 1905 Budapest Keleti to Eger service which was scheduled to follow on the single track Eger branch. It was terminated at Fuzesabony and the passengers from the Budapest train were directed to ours which promptly left 20 minutes late!

Saturday 21 September 1996

Since the town centre of Eger is situated some way from the main station, I took a taxi from my hotel for a reasonably late start in the day. Eger, on the map looks to be quite a simple, straight forward layout, the actual station being a dead end terminus. However a large marshalling yard approximately 1 Km from the station seemed all but deserted. My first run of the day was, as to be expected in Bzmot railcars, these ones (2 power cars + one trailer) were of the newly built models converted from existing trailers with more powerful motors and currently being allocated to Fuzesabony and Balassagyarmat depots. The line beyond Eger heads northwards through some relatively steep inclines towards the main town on the line, Szilvasvarad where all but a pair of early morning trains terminate. So unusually continuing on in the same direction it means changing railcars for the line on to Putnok, the forwarding service being much more lightly loaded and worked by a single Bzmot power car. I had an hour to spare at Putnok, where apart from photographing the M41 hauled train going the opposite way to I was going it was a case of patronising the bar just across from the station for a couple of cups of the very strong, black coffee (Kave) that are served up in Hungary. I then continued on to Ozd a run down industrial town close to the Slovakian border being hauled by M41 2175. Shortly after Putnok the loco runs round and train reverses at Banreve which has a sparse service (operated by ZSR) into Slovakia. The hours wait at Ozd was long enough, by far the most depressing and run down town I have been to yet in Hungary, I ventured into the centre, found a Supermarket before venturing back to the station.

M41 2175 worked the train back via Banreve and Putnok to alight at Kazincbarcika. By now back under the wires though diesel hauled trains from Ozd run under the wires all the way to Miskolc. From Kazincbarcika I had probably the surprise of the week with Class M43 1072 (which normally only work short freights) on its train of load 3 Bzmot trailers for my up and back run on the 15 Km branch to Rudabanya. Despite M43 having no train heating capability, Bzmot trailers are individually heated by paraffin heaters. The branch line to Rudabanya reminded me of some of the branch lines in South Wales in Britain, though not so steeply graded, the line serves a series of coal mining villages with the track beds of numerous closed lines coming off the branch. The actual village of Rudabanya at 1700 or so on a Saturday afternoon was grim, with houses all around burning poor quality coal which would have probably been banned in the UK years ago! Nevertheless the atmosphere and surroundings made ideal photographs during the fading daylight. Returning back to Kazincbarcika, trains from Miskolc terminating there are V43 worked with a push pull set, V43 1365 being in charge. Ending up at Miskolc, still not having had a meal all day, the station restaurant by now was "beer only" service so I quickly got a meal from a place just across from the station. Tonight I had no hotel to stay in, I could well have called it a day found a room for the night in Miskolc and returned to Budapest the next morning. But there was plenty more track to cover and an unusual move for the night still to come. I then made an out an back run up to the Slovak border station, Satoraljaujhely picking up train 318 "Milic" 1705 Budapest Keleti to Cierna nad Tisou. Hauled by V43 1037 as far as Szerencs where M41 2165 took over for a spot on time run where I had 11 minutes to make the return on an all stations local back to Szerencs with M41 2201 in charge. Changing at Szerencs I took V43 1037 (which had gone to Nyiregyhaza and back during this time) back to Miskolc. And my night was to be somewhat of a sleepless one! I still had one more line in the area to cover, namely the branch to Tornanadaska which has a late train up from Miskolc leaving at 2300 to arrive at the end at 0041. Having seen two train departures leave Miskolc for tornanadaska over the last day or so leave behind either an M41 or M47 I was not a bit pleased to find a 5 car Bzmot sitting in the platform when I came up the steps from the under passage at Miskolc! Still there I was not much I could do about it so I set about my nocturnal covering of the branch.

Sunday 22 September 1996

Last day in Hungary. Despite some hold up en route up to Tornanadaska due a defect on one of the automatic doors we arrived at the terminus on time. What do I do now until 0309, the first train back? I took a quick walk in to the village, but gave up on the idea when it seemed that every dog in the neighbourhood could hear me coming and started to bark! So I returned back to the station, by now the train crew who worked the train up had finished preparing it for the 0309 departure, there was no chance that the M47 and coaches berthed in the siding would be working back until the second train at 0500! I approached the one of the two conductors and asked if she spoke any German which she did and I made it known that I was a railwayman from the UK saying I was unable to get a hotel room for the night in Miskolc so had decided to spend the night on the train instead! Without any hesitation I was invited to sleep on the train for a couple of hours, along with the rest of the train crew. One of the trailers had the lights turned off and heating turned up full so I managed a little sleep stretching out on one of the long bench seats. I was awoken just before 0300 by the alarm clock set by the conductor and we promptly left on time. By now my 8 day free pass for Hungary had run out so my first task was to buy a ticket which was made out from the next stop down the line. When I asked why, she said because the ticket office at Tornanadaska was open (at 0300!) for me to buy a ticket there she would have got into trouble! And at just after 0300 on a Sunday morning the train began to pick up not just the odd passenger here and there, but often a dozen or more at most stations! Fairly soon locals were boarding carrying large buckets of mushrooms, out for the whole night in the fields mushroom picking one wonders! The branch train terminated at Sajoecseg the junction with the Ozd to Miskolc line and at the unearthly hour of 0430 on a Sunday morning getting off one train to another with over a 100 others felt somewhat odd! V43 1365 (again) took charge for the 15 minute run into Miskolc which even at 0500 was busy. After several cups of strong coffee and a sandwich from the all night food stall on the concourse at Miskolc I headed for Vamosgyork behind V43 1048. After more coffee and sandwiches in the station buffet at Vamosgyork I first covered the short electrified branch to Gyongyos worked by V43 1363 on a push pull set, where after another 50 minute it was time to start heading for Budapest. My final non electrified line of the 10 day trip was from Vamosgyork to Ujszaz worked by a rebuilt Bzmot which worked through to Szolnok. And from Szolnok I had just enough time to buy my last ticket before I headed back towards Budapest behind V63 020 on the 1050 departure. It was easier on the return back to the airport to get off the train at Kobanya-Kispest followed by the bus to the airport. And so journeys end, within 20 minutes or so of arriving at Kobyana-Kispest I had arrived back at Ferihegy airport for my 1430 flight to back to London Heathrow. So it was goodbye to Hungary for this time, no doubt I'll be back again soon...



General Practical Information

Tickets. I will not go into any detail about all the various sorts of tickets one can get for Hungary due to the vast number of different rover type tickets available. Alternatively tickets bought in Hungary are very cheap and are based on the kilometric distance. For example the 1996/97 MAV timetable illustrates current fares, the 221 Km single journey from Budapest to Debrecen, 2nd Class costs 988 Forints.

Currency. As I found to my cost it is probably better to change money upon arrival than before going. 1GPB = 220 Forints, 1DM = 100 Forints, 1USD = 150 Forints (approximately)

Accommodation. In Budapest accommodation is generally higher priced than elsewhere in Hungary largely due to its high demand being a major tourist attraction. Generally the city centre has the most expensive hotels with cheaper Pensions (Panzio) lying in the outskirts. Alternatively a cheaper form of accommodation is private rooms where you would stay with a Hungarian family in their house/flat. Quite often you can be approached at Budapest Keleti station for offers of private rooms. There are numerous hotel booking agencies at airports, the main stations and within the city itself. Beyond Budapest accommodation can be limited in some towns, it is therefore best to aim for the larger centres e.g. Debrecen, Szeged etc. Alternatively centres such as Eger, Esztergom etc. which are major tourist attractions are worth heading for. Lastly the area around Lake Balaton is well developed, though may establishments do close for the winter months.

Railway Photography. Generally no problems what so ever. Most stations have no raised platforms and the railway itself is often used as a public right of way so it is quite easy to more or less to roam around at will obviously paying attention to safety. A few stations have raised platforms and fencing between the two tracks which can make photography a little difficult.


Motive Power

The following notes give brief details of the various types of motive power mentioned in the report. It does not give the full range of motive power owned by MAV. Anyone wanting any help, specific enquiries please e-mail me and I'll try and help.

In general the first letter indicates the type of power. V = electric loco, M = diesel loco, B= railcars.
The 1st digit represents the number of axles, ie 2, 4 or 6.


Class V43
Built by Ganz Mavag, Budapest between 1963 and 1982 with the exception of the first 7 examples which were built by Krupp in Germany with electrical equipment supplied by Alsthom.  These electrics are the most common to be found in Hungary running off both voltages (25kV and 16kV 50Hz ac). Maximum speed is 130 Km/h with a continuous rating of 2220 kW. A mixed traction loco found on freights, both local and express passenger trains, they are also fitted for push-pull operation. Current number range V43 1001 to 1379, with 14 examples sold to GySEV numbered V43 320 to 333.

Class V63
Built 1975 to 1988 by Ganz Mavag, 56 were built predominantly for express passenger work again off both voltages. Originally had a maximum speed of130 Km/h with a continuous rating of 3680 kW, various locos have been uprated to run at 160 Km/h and renumbered by the addition of 100 to the running number. Original numbering V63 001 to 056.

Class M41
Built 1973 to 1984 again by Ganz Mavag, These diesel hydraulic locomotives  were built with electric train heat and are to be found on both local and main line passenger trains over many non electrified lines in Hungary. Equipped with Ganz Pielstick engine of 1324 kW with a maximum speed of 100 Km/h. Numbering series M41 2101 to 2214, 2208 to 2214 originally being built for the GySEV.

Class M43
Built 1975 to 1983 by U 23 August, Buchuresti, Romania, diesel hydraulic transmission powered by August 23 Mercedes engine of 330 kW. Maximum speed 60 Km/h. Consequently used for light freights/trip working although do work some lightweight passenger trains formed of rolling stock with independent heating. Numbering scheme M43 1001 to 1164, the later 3 originally being built for GySEV.

Class M47
Built 1974 to 1979 again by U 23 August. Three separate batches all , diesel hydraulic transmission powered by August 23 Mercedes engine of 514 kW (except M47 1101 to 1125 = 700 kW). Maximum speed 70 Km/h. Work a mixture of light passenger and freight trains for which M47 1001 to 1125 are fitted with steam heat boilers, M47 1101 to 1125 are not fitted with train heat equipment and M47 2001 to M47 2075 are fitted with electric train heat equipment.

Class Mk45 (760mm gauge)

Few details known except built in 1973 by U 23 August and nowadays are concentrated on working passenger trains on the Budapest Children's Railway.

Class Mk48 (760mm gauge)

Again few details known. Built 1960 to 1961 by Raba, Gyor. These locos are to be found working on the narrow gauge systems at Nyiregyhaza, Kecskemet and Balatonfenyves.

Class Bzmot

Built 1977 to 1987 by Vagonka Studenka, Czechoslovakia,  4 wheel diesel railcars fitted with Skoda engine of 140 kW and hydraulic transmission. Maximum speed 70 Km/h. Original batch of 207 power cars which haul 4 wheeled trailers of similar build but are not fitted with driving cabs. Trailers are classified BDzx and are fitted with luggage/parcels storage area, with others being classified Bzx being fitted without. Power cars are numbered Bzmot 001 to 207, whilst trailers are numbered into the full UIC carriage numbering. Since 1992 various Bzx have been rebuilt with cabs and fitted Raba 206 kW engine plus Voith hydraulic transmission with a maximum speed of 80 Km/h. Reclassified Bzmot and numbered 301 and above but also carry the full UIC numbering on the sides. 24 examples are due to be rebuilt.

Class MDmot

Built 1970 to 1975 by Ganz Mavag. These B-B motor luggage vans are fitted with a 590 kW Ganz engine with hydro-mechanical transmission. Maximum speed = 100 Km/h. The power cars work with a 4 car set of carriages with driving trailer at one end equipped with a small engine for train heat etc. Power cars are numbered MD 3001 to 3042 and are allocated to several depots across Hungary.